


Tang

by shiva_goddessof



Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Mal/Simon if you squint?, Male Character of Color, Memories, Other, Outside In, Post BDM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29784384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiva_goddessof/pseuds/shiva_goddessof
Summary: “Are you really going to shoot me?” Suresh asks.Simon flicks something Suresh assumes is the safety on the back of the barrel, and tucks it into a holster Suresh can now see under his jacket. “Probably not, no,” he says, adjusting his stance and jerking his head towards the mouth of the alley. “They might, though.”A look in at Simon from somebody he used to know.
Relationships: Malcolm Reynolds/Simon Tam, Simon Tam & OrIginal Male Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Tang

**Author's Note:**

> tang(n):
> 
> a sharp distinctive often lingering flavor  
> a stimulation of the senses  
> the part of a blade that is hidden

The market gets less reputable every time he comes. Suresh looks down at himself and regrets the white shirt. The cufflinks, too. This place is just starting to get to the point where he might find himself with slashes in his sleeves when he gets back to Daadi’s. The spices are still the freshest, though. Turmeric, chilli, cardamom. He inhales the scents one last time before he secretes the little plastifilm envelope in his pocket and turns to go.

A flash of a face that somewhere in his mind he knows across the corner of his eye; a man, medium height, hands in pockets, dark hair. Dressed to fit in here, work pants, worn t-shirt. His feet are moving of their own accord, following. The man glances back, and it clicks into place. He does know him. No wonder he couldn’t leave it be.

“Tam,” he says quietly, to himself. Then, louder, “Tam! Simon Tam!”

Simon speeds up, and ducks into a cluttered dark alley. Suresh follows him, stumbling over his own feet, still not quite sure why. Then he reaches the alley mouth, and reels to a stop.

It’s Simon Tam. He can’t doubt it, despite what he sees. Simon is unshaven, and looks worn; older and thinner - well, no surprise, they’re all older - but also more substantial somehow. His clothes are cheap and well-worn; of all the ways he’d never have expected to see Simon Tam, those battered work pants are close to the top. He’s absolutely still and cold - well, that’s Simon, definitely; never got flustered, just became icily present. And he’s levelling at Suresh, with both arms extended and perfectly steady hands, some kind of small gun.

Suresh sucks in a panic breath. Then another. “Simon,” he says, when he can get enough air in his lungs.

“Suresh,” says Simon, and validation floods through him. Simon’s eyes are narrowed, and don’t move. “Why did you follow me?”

“I thought - you were - “ Suresh gulps, and stumbles to a halt. “I just saw you, and I - “

Simon waits. The gun is still levelled squarely at Suresh’s chest.

“They came to the hospital,” he says breathlessly. “They took me into a room, and asked questions about you. Who you associated with, what you did outside work, what drugs did you take, who did you sleep with… Federal agents, with confidential ID’s and weapons. They brought weapons into the hospital! Simon, what did you _do_?”

Simon’s voice is flat and controlled. “What did you tell them, Suresh?”

“I told them the truth! What would you do? I told them we didn’t see each other much anymore, and I didn’t know who you were sleeping with or why you would break any laws, I didn’t know anybody who was less likely to break any laws. I almost lost my job. My boss was spooked for weeks.”

“What are you doing in this place? Out on the Rim?”

Suresh tries to smile. “I’m visiting my _daadi,_ she’s still here, she won’t move. She says the Core is all fake. She needed spices, for cooking, she won’t go anywhere but here, you remember the aloo paratha she sent back that time, when we had finals?”

Simon hasn’t lowered the gun, but he’s let his voice soften a bit. “I remember. But you shouldn’t have followed me, Suresh. You put yourself in danger. I can’t do anything to stop that.”

There is a long moment of silence. Suresh licks his dry lips. “Are you really going to shoot me?” he asks.

The tension seems to drain out of Simon’s arms; he flicks something Suresh assumes is the safety on the back of the barrel, and tucks it into a holster Suresh can now see under his jacket. “Probably not, no,” he says, adjusting his stance. “They might, though.” He jerks his head to the mouth of the alley.

Too late, Suresh registers the blocking of the light behind him and whirls around.

There are two figures; a man with a hard, deeply tanned face and a long leather coat, holding a long pistol almost casually, and a tall, dark-skinned woman dressed in leather, steadying a shotgun in the crook of one arm, with an expression that makes it clear that using it on Suresh will be the easiest thing in the world.

“Oh God,” says Suresh, more to himself than anyone else. He raises his hands slowly into the air.

“I see you still retain your talent, Doc,” says the man in a Rim drawl, and Suresh realises he’s speaking over his shoulder to Simon. The man’s mouth is curled in a way that says he’s finding this funny, but doesn’t expect anyone else to. “This a friend of yours?”

“Not exactly,” says Simon’s voice, with some strain, behind him. “We knew each other once.”

“And he just couldn’t resist renewing the acquaintance, huh?” The man cocks his pistol nonchalantly. “He gonna make trouble?”

“I don’t think so,” says Simon from behind him. “We’ll be gone within the hour, anyway. What can he tell? The Alliance know I’m still alive.”

“I’d rest a mite easier if he didn’t,” says the man, gesturing Suresh backwards with the pistol. “And if nobody happened to note that they’d seen you in these parts.”

“Captain,” says Simon, in a tone obviously meant to calm. “Two minutes.”

The man narrows his eyes at Suresh. “Speak with your acquaintance, then. Me and my first mate, we’ll be standing right here.”

“You can turn,” says Simon, on a note of apology. “He won’t hurt you while I’m here.”

Suresh lowers his hands and pivots on the spot. “What you did,” he says. “They said it was kidnapping, treason… it had something to do with your sister, right? With River. Is she with you?”

Simon’s voice takes on a harsh note; Suresh sees his hand move towards the gun under his jacket again, and the shock that ricochets through him nearly takes him off his feet. “People who know the answer to that question tend to end up dead. I’d try another one, if I were you.”

“You’ve changed.”

Simon looks past him to the man and the woman. “I did what I had to do. That’s what I did, that’s all I did. I protected someone who needed it. They aren’t what you think, Suresh. I have to go.”

“Are you… are you okay?” Suresh blurts. “Living like this, and you’re so… are you okay?”

Simon’s face softens. “We’re alive.” He glances back to the pair in the alley entrance. “We have friends. We’re free. It’s enough.” He steps past Suresh, looks at the man. “Job done? Everyone..?”

“It’s done.” The man is still watching them both. “Let’s get back on board. And you might be givin’ me a good reason why we ain’t killin’ this one.”

Suresh feels the panic run up his spine, but Simon glances back, and now he almost sounds amused. “He doesn’t know anything worth their time, and I think he knows it. And I know where his family are, too.”

“We’ll make a criminal of you yet, Doc,” says the man, putting his pistol away. “You. Get on home, and I’d think about sufferin’ an attack of memory on the way. Awful dull, the market, don’t you think?”

The woman hasn’t moved a muscle since he saw her, the muzzle of her gun steady as an eye, even as Simon and the dark man turn their backs on him.

“Simon,” he says, with a hint of desperation, and Simon turns back, alarm written on his face; he glances at the woman, _hold,_ _don’t do anything._ “We talk about you, sometimes. Me and Amara, and Christian, when we see each other. They came after us all, and we didn’t know what you’d done…”

“When,” says Simon, tense in every muscle, in a way that tells Suresh as much about what he fears as anything he’s said. “What do you say.”

“Just about you, how we remember you from school." Drinking. Studying. Fighting over the CorVue and throwing pretzels at each other. Making sandwiches in their tiny kitchenette and talking about girls. "And that we don’t understand it. We don’t know how you could have committed... Never over a wave, or anything, just when we see each other, late at night…”

“Don’t,” says Simon, with quiet force. “Don’t tell them about this. Don’t speculate, or speak where anybody could hear. You don’t know what you could be getting yourself into. People have died, Suresh, and not because I did it. The best thing for you is if you forget you ever knew me.”

“Oh yeah,” says Suresh, finding a vein of heavy sarcasm somewhere. “I’ll get right on that.”

The man makes a gesture of haste to Simon, who gives one final look back, and a short nod, then he’s gone. 

The woman lifts her shotgun, slowly, keeping him pinned with her eyes. And then she too is gone, in rapid long strides.

The walk back seems a lot shorter; his head is a whirl. Daadi bustles over to relieve him of the little packets as soon as he’s in the door, trailing delicious smells from the kitchen and making pleased noises. “Well done, Suri! You got the good stuffs! Did you find everything at the market? You look pale.”

“I’m fine, _daadi_. That place is getting dangerous, though. You shouldn’t go there alone.”

“Did something happen, _bebee_ ?” Daadi turns back to the stove. “ _Chi chi_ , was there more nonsense there?”

“No, no trouble.” He summons up a smile. “A lot has changed in this ‘verse, that’s all.”

**Author's Note:**

> This happened in my brain because I started thinking about how many people must remember Simon, in various ways. River essentially disappeared from view aged 14 and wouldn’t have had many connections, but Simon was part of a large med-school class and would have worked with literally hundreds, possibly thousands, of people at a large teaching hospital. At least some of them would have been interrogated about him and those he knew well must remember and discuss him. Thus, Suresh. I’m sorry.


End file.
